The U.S. Army has charged the soldier who ran across the North Korean border back in July with crimes including desertion and soliciting child pornography. 

Travis King, 23, who was expelled by North Korea in September after two months in the communist regime’s custody, now faces eight charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Reuters reported. King was returned to U.S. custody on September 27 after sprinting across the heavily guarded demilitarized zone (DMZ) line in July while on a civilian tour.

King is accused of soliciting a Snapchat user in July to “knowingly and willingly produce child pornography.” He is also accused of possession of child pornography. The soldier’s mother Claudine Gates asked for her son to “be afforded the presumption of innocence.”

“The man I raised, the man I dropped off at boot camp, the man who spent the holidays with me before deploying did not drink,” Gates said. “A mother knows her son, and I believe something happened to mine while he was deployed. The Army promised to investigate what happened at Camp Humphreys, and I await the results.”

After the U.S. negotiated King’s release, the Swedish government picked him up in North Korea before handing him over to the U.S. ambassador in China, according to Reuters. He was then flown to a military hospital in Texas where he received medical and mental health evaluations. 

King, who had reportedly been disciplined for assault in South Korea and was set to be removed from the U.S. military, allegedly told the North Koreans that he fled into the country because he “harbored ill feelings against inhuman mistreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army” and “was disillusioned at the unequal American society.” The alleged remarks made by King after entering the Hermit Kingdom could not be verified by the Pentagon. 

Prior to crossing into North Korea, King was involved in at least two separate episodes where South Korean police were brought in to intervene, including incidents in September and October 2022. 

In September, King had a case settled after he was accused of punching a man in the face at a South Korean club. The following month, he was accused of acting aggressively toward police officers responding to a call about a fight, court documents obtained by Reuters show. 

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The 23-year-old soldier’s family has hired a legal team that includes Franklin Rosenblatt, who defended Bowe Bergdahl during court-martial proceedings. Bergdahl deserted his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held by the Taliban for five years before being exchanged for five high-ranking Taliban members held at Guantanamo Bay in a prisoner swap. 

“I am grateful for the extraordinary legal team representing my son, and I look forward to my son having his day in court,” Gates said. 

Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

U.S. forces have come under fire multiple times throughout the Middle East over the last several days from Iranian-backed terror proxy groups.

The attacks come after the USS Carney, a destroyer, was sailing in the northern Red Sea on Thursday when it detected and shot down three cruise missiles and multiple drones that were launched by Houthis, an Iranian-backed terrorist group, in Yemen. Officials said that the guided-missile destroyer was swarmed by approximately two dozen drones and they did not disclose what munitions were used to shoot down the missiles or drones.

An American contractor died on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack while running to a shelter during a drone attack at Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq.

The New York Times noted that while military investigators were still trying to ascertain who launched the drone attacks, Iran has launched these types of attacks on U.S. forces.

Multiple blasts from rockets and drones struck inside the base on Thursday night, according to Reuters. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties or damage from the attacks.

The report noted that terror groups inside Iraq that were backed by Iran had threatened the U.S. last week with rocket and drone attacks if the U.S. supported Israel after Hamas terrorists carried out unprecedented terrorist attacks last weekend.

U.S. officials told the Associated Press that a military base — the al-Tanf garrison — in Syria where a small number of U.S. troops are stationed was hit with drone attacks on Thursday.

One drone was shot down while another struck the base and caused “minor injuries,” the report said.

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The garrison “is located at a sensitive juncture often used by Iranian-backed militants to ferry weapons to Hezbollah,” the report added.

U.S. and Israeli officials have expressed concerned that Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group based in Lebanon, could be preparing to launch an attack against Israel’s northern border.